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December 1927
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Bible. It was a dramatic scene. Carlyle calls it “the greatest moment in the modern history o f men.” Those sublime words with which he closed his defense come ring ing down the ages with a thrill that puts iron into the blood: “Here I stand; I can do no other: God help me.” The Liturgy of the Mass was in Latin and the singing of hymns in the vernacular was excluded. This gave Luther his opportunity to make music a great force in the Reformation; and taking advantage of the Germans’ love of music, he introduced hymns for the people in the na tive tongue, into the church services. It went like wild fire! Luther taught his own congregation to sing hymns, and he wrote and arranged new songs, enlisted his musical friends, Jonas, Eber and others, in writing more, and the flood of Reformation music swept all before it. Argu ments could be met with counter arguments—but the songs not only carried the message in the words but also stirred the emotions, satisfied the heart, blended wills and allayed criticism. ♦ E ffect O f H is M usic In Reformation influence the effect of Luther’s music is placed second only to that of his German translation of the New Testament. A Romanist of the time said, “The whole people is singing itself into the Lutheran Doctrine.” And it is the opinion of many authorities that the Reforma tion would have been a comparative failure but for the influence of hymn singing. Luther’s greatest hymn, “A Mighty Fortress is our God,” is a free rendering of the 46th Psalm. Heine called it “The Marseillaise of the Reformation.” Its character is told in its title. Both words and music were written by the_ Great Reformer. Luther was wont to cheer his as sociates with this hymn in times of discouragement, espe cially Melanchthon, who was of a gentle spirit and given to despondency. At such times Luther would say, “Let us sing the 46th Psalm.” It has been the battle hymn on many a field and was sung by the army of Gustavus Adolphus early in the morning before the decisive Battle of Lutzen. It has been introduced into classic music in the great works of Meyerbeer, Bach and Mendelssohn. The music of this great world crisis naturally took on the stern character of -the time. As Daniel Webster said of the eloquence of John Adams, so it might be said of Luther s music: It was bold, manly and energetic, and such the crisis required.” Thomas Carlyle, in describing p § ||M s. £rea* masterpiece, puts it even stronger in de- scribing it as “the sound of Alpine avalanches, or the first murmurs of earthquakes.” “A mighty fortress is our God, A bulwark never failing; Our Helper He, amid the flood
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The Twenty-third Psalm
By Jo h n McNeill T his new ly published book is a devotional in te rp re ta tion of the fam ous Psalm , by th e S cottish p astor, evangel ist and Bible expounder. W ith the pen of a p o e t and the soul of a p ro p h e t, D r. McNeill in te rp re ts th e w orld’s m ost fam ous song in vivid sentences th a t quickly seize on th e im agination of th e read er— a w onderfully fresh tre a tm e n t of th e Bible classic. C loth $1 .0 0 Christ Supreme By A rth u r H . C arter The Life Supreme By L. H . K oepsel
C hristian m en arid women— p artic u la rly those “babes in C h rist” w ho are perplexed in th e ir m inds concerning th e all- im p o rtan t them e of the D eity of C hrist, will find th a t th e tru th s contained in th is volum e will give them the needed lig h t on fhis solem n question, an d help them b e com e so rooted and grounded in th e faith th a t they can w ith stan d the o n slau g h ts of th e enem y. C loth 75c By J. G. M achen T his in terestin g volum e en deavors to set forth, in the lig h t of th e New T estam ent teaching an d in com parison w ith m odem philosophy, the real n a tu re of C hristian faith an d w h at it m eans to “b e lieve.” In p a rtic u la r it seeks to b reak down, in the in terests of th e in tellectual asp ects of faith, th e opposition w hich is so comm only set up betw een faith and know ledge. C loth $1.75 The Romance of Christian Experience By D r. Sam uel Ju d so n P o rter A vigorous, interest-com pell ing, b rig h tly w ritten book of serm ons by one of the “stro n g ” m en of th e B aptist C hurch of th e South. Dr. P o rte r’s w ork is rich an d in spiring. H is illu stratio n s are a p t and discrim inatingly chosen— n o th in g really trite o r comm onplace being em ployed. He places a lofty value on C hristian experience, an d eloquently defends and extols its p ractice an d p riv i leges. C loth $1.25 Through Science to God What Is Faith?
The purpose of th is volum e is to p resen t th e life of Jesus th e C hrist in C hronological order, in so far as possible, u sin g th e v ery w ords of S cripture. The a u th o r has com bined the four Gospels and a few p o in ts from the A cts of th e A postles an d one Epistle of Paul, so th a t it is a com plete Life from the standpoint of the inspired w riters. C loth $1.00 The Undying Torch By Jo h n M arvin D ean A volum e of fifteen so u l stirrin g m essages by the p a sto r of th e F irst B ap tist C hurch of Pasadena. These serm ons, w ith tw o o r three exceptions, w e r e delivered from th e p u lp it of th a t church during the a u th o r’s p asto rate. Dr. D ean is fundam ental in faith, m odern in m ethod and evangelistic in sp irit. These serm ons are a sam ple of his m ental stre n g th an d sp iritu al fervor. C loth $1.75 The Christ of the Gospels B y H enry Clay M orrison D r. M orrison’s rugged de fense of th e tru th ap p ears u p on every page an d one of the ten serm ons offered would ju stify the securing of the volum e. Am ong th e rugged them es are, The V alue of a Soul, T he Fullness of th e Re dem ption, The Second Com ing of C hrist, an d The F ru it of th e S pirit. T he h eart will feel th e su rg e of th e a u th o r’s s p ir itu al earn estn ess a s the pages a re read. C loth $1.00
By C h arles H . T yndall D r. T yn d all has given us a n a u th o ritativ e an d scien tific, y e t p o p u la r study w hich will stren g th en and deepen one’s faith by show ing clearly th e evidences of th e exis tence of God in all th e processes of n a tu re . T his fascin at ing w ork, p re p a re d n o t so m uch fo r th e stu d en t as for th e av erag e m an, is really th e p ro d u c t of a lifetim e’s devotion to the cause of religion an d science, being a successful effort to show th a t th e re is no conflict betw een th e tw o forces. ______________________________________ _______ C lo th $ 2 .00 If money does not accompany order, goods will be sent C. O. D. If goods are to come by mail add 10 per cent for postage. Send for a free copy of our complete Catalog of Books, Booklets, Tracts, etc. B I O L A B O O K R O O M Bible Institute, Los Angeles, Calif.
Of mortal ills prevailing. For still our ancient foe Doth seek to work us woe; His craft and power are great And armed with cruel hate On earth is not his equal.”
S ta rs and Dew-Drops ■Well has Madaren said, “The laws which mould the stars, and move the gigantic orbs of Saturn and Uranus in their, tremendous circuits, shape the dew-drop that glistens at the end of the blade of grass.”
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